City Manager Andrea Travis-Miller, center, discusses details of the pendency plan on Monday during a city council meeting in San Bernardino. (Micah Escamilla/Correspondent)

SAN BERNARDINO – It’s not quite a balanced budget and it’s not quite unanimous, but after weeks of pressure the City Council reached a milestone Monday when it passed a cuts package that will be presented to the court as part of the city’s bankruptcy filing.

The San Bernardino City Council adopted an austerity spending plan on a 5-2 vote Monday, Nov. 26, after an unusual show of unity by the mayor and city attorney and an impassioned argument against the document by Councilman Chas Kelley.

The political aide will be sentenced Wednesday for stealing more than $7 million from clients. Representatives for some victims say the penalty isn’t enough.

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times November 26, 2012, 7:14 p.m.

SACRAMENTO — Federal prosecutors recommended Monday that former campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee — who pleaded guilty earlier this year to mail fraud involving the theft of more than $7 million from her clients — be sentenced to about eight years in prison.

The City Council of San Bernardino, which is in bankruptcy and facing a $45.8-million budget shortfall, on Monday voted to slash more than $26 million in spending and freeze debt payments as the financially troubled city struggles to stay afloat.